Before you’ve canceled your cable or satellite subscription, you’ll investigate what’s available to you via an HD antenna. For people in urban areas, a good HD antenna likely offers all four major networks (FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS), along with as many as 10-15 other selections (PBS, CW, etc.) in HD resolution, all for free. To make sure you’ll get decent reception, you can simply buy one and try it out, ask around the neighborhood, or try this antenna analysis tool which will tell you which channels you can expect to receive in your area.
The one thing that holds people back from pulling the plug on their cable or satellite subscription is live sports and local TV stations. They want to watch tv without cable, and they are concerned that they will not be able to catch all of their favorite games and live events. While it is a valid concern, there are so many ways to view local channels without cable now!

That's all there is to it, but – as you can tell from the length of this article – there's plenty to explain, discuss, and debate about watching TV without cable. So keep up with us on social media and right here on Cordcutting.com. Streaming and free over-the-air TV are what we're all about, and we'll never get tired of covering them – or of helping you.

There are a lot of options out there to stream your favorite shows. Don’t feel overwhelmed. They all offer free trials and no contract. There is no risk to try them out. Don’t overthink ditching your traditional pay TV provider. Try cutting the cord. If you discover it isn’t for you, I’m sure your cable company will be more than happy to take your money again.

Rather than purchasing TV Guide Channel carriage rights, some services such as Optimum and Bright House Networks created their own scrolling listings grids, with Optimum's occasionally being interrupted by full-screen commercials, and otherwise featuring banner ads accompanied by music. Bright House's version featured a video inlay of a local news station instead of banner ads, with its overall on-screen presentation otherwise matching that of Optimum's. Other cable providers that did not carry TV Guide Channel carried a similar television listings channel provided by entertainment and listings website Zap2It. DirecTV did not begin carrying the TV Guide Channel until 2004, and began carrying it in an entirely full-screen format (without the bottom listings grid) in 2005. This was also the case with Dish Network, which aired the network in full-screen format to avoid duplication of its set top receiver-integrated IPG, also provided by Gemstar-TV Guide (another satellite provider, Primestar, had also carried the channel with the grid included, until it merged with DirecTV in 1999 shortly after the rebrand to TV Guide Channel).
Philo, like nearly every other service listed here, gives you a long list of popular cable channels to watch live over the internet. But it differs significantly in what content is supports — or more accurately, doesn’t support. Despite boasting a bevy of channels, including Viacom-owned favorites like MTV and Comedy Central (absent from many competing services), the four major networks — Fox, NBC, CBS, and ABC — are not carried by Philo, nor is anything from ABC’s parent company, Disney. That means, along with no local affiliates, there is also no ESPN. When it comes to locals, though, many viewers can get them over the air with a simple (and affordable) HD antenna for free.
For decades, consumers who wanted just a few channels had to pay for all of them. Comcast or DirecTV couldn’t offer, say, MTV without also including Viacom’s less popular channels such as TV Land. While consumers wanted to pay for single networks on an a la carte basis, the industry fought attempts to break the bundle into smaller, less expensive pieces.

Optical: Though a similar technology to the old-school audio interface, HDMI-over-optical is capable of far greater bandwidth. It's also capable of far greater distances. It's easy to find options that are over 330ft/100m. Prices have dropped radically in the last few years, with options available for similar prices per-foot as traditional copper cables. Most don't even need external power. They work, and look, just like a thin HDMI cable.

I have direct TV. Am senior on disability and social security. My bundle has been raised to over two hundred. I only get between eight and nine hundred a month for everything including food. I like history channel, HGTV, and Westerns. I don’t watch news or sports. Can you explain as simply as possible what and how I can do this. I live in a small town in Florida gulf coast if that makes a difference. I cannot continue to do what I have been. what’s your best advice? Already have internet for grandson online college.

My college age kid went into a bit of shock for the first few days and then found time to spend at a local bookstore (I see that as an improvement). I did invest in a regular ole’ antenna for the TV, so I can catch the local channels (which are about 50 here in TX), and after reading your article purchased a Roku 3. My kid has an Xbox, Wii, and PS3 so streaming online content was already possible, I got the Roku for the main television and not to cause another issue of “shell shock” by taking over the kid’s PS3.

On the other hand, we found no streaming package with a sport channel lineup more comprehensive than a standard cable package as of late 2017. You also won’t find many popular regional sports networks that carry local MLB, NBA, and NHL teams. You can watch games that local teams play on ESPN and other national broadcasts, but you usually can’t watch every game through streaming-only services. (Many of these regional sports networks may end up under the ESPN umbrella as part of Disney’s planned acquisition of 21st Century Fox, but it’s still to early to say how this move will affect the streaming availability of local games for about half the teams in those three leagues.) In addition, some particular events are subject to their own licensing rules—for example, you can’t watch Monday Night Football through Sling TV on your mobile phone, because Verizon has exclusive rights to stream NFL games to phones.

Depending on the range of viewing habits, some people will have to utilize more of the below options than others. If you decide to cancel your cable subscription, you’re more likely going to have to subscribe to several different services to access all of the shows that you want. For some, this might not actually save money, which is usually the purpose of cutting the cord. Before making any decisive actions, first see if you can utilize our tips for saving money on your existing subscription.

I was a loyal cable TV customer for all of my adult life, paying about $34/month for basic cable (which sounds ludicrously cheap now). Then I moved to a different city where the cost was $52/month for basic cable. I paid it and figured, “well, that’s just the cost of getting TV”. More and more, however, I realized that I wasn’t getting good TV. I was just surfing through the channels over and over looking for good TV. Then, my 6-month “introductory cable rate” ended and my cable bill went up to $57/month. Sure, it was only a few dollars more, but that was the last straw. After a few months of putting up with the higher cost and lack of good shows, I decided to “Disable My Cable” and try broadcast digital TV. The first thing I tried was an old rabbit-ear antenna that I had from the pre-digital TV days… Read the rest of my story here.

Big Star TV is another one, I don’t know if any one has mentioned, It’s also an app from the apple app store. I believe the app is free. It has a Huge library of hard to find movies, a lot are horrer films, but drama, SiFi, and thrillers as well. I have enjoyed it. I also just single out the individual channels that I like to watch and just drag their Icon onto my desk top, like CW, TNT, AMC, ABC, ABC Family. I’m constantly looking for more, so thank you, this has been a great help.

The first thing you may want to consider is an HD antenna. This doesn't provide a way to watch streaming videos, but if you want to watch live TV, it's the cheapest and simplest solution. You may remember having rabbit ears on your hand-me-down TV as a kid — an HD antenna is basically the modern-day version of that. You hook the device into your TV, put it somewhere near a window and watch as the free channels roll in.

Some also concluded that the streaming service could be good for ratings after seeing the success of AMC’s Breaking Bad. The drama about a meth kingpin drew more than 10 million viewers in its final episode in 2013 after past seasons began appearing on Netflix. That compared with 1.4 million viewers for the first-season debut in 2008. Fans had caught up on the old seasons on Netflix, then tuned in to the current season on TV, they thought.

Next, connect the HDHomeRun box to your home modem or router using the included ethernet cable. Just plug one end of the ethernet cable into the box and the other end into the ethernet port on the modem or router. The HDHomeRun will always need to stay connected to the modem or router, so make sure you've got room nearby to set up the box and antenna. You could also invest in a longer ethernet cable if you need to.
ADSL is broadband that uses copper telephone wire throughout its entire journey between your house and the telephone exchange. Copper is less ideal for carrying a broadband signal than fibre optic cable, providing a maximum speed of around 18Mbps. ADSL is fast enough for a small household of 1-2 people, but it may struggle with three or more people using the internet at the same time.
That said, if you want a cable-like experience both at home and on the go without the dead weight that a cable subscription brings, then a streaming service is worth a look. There's no contract to sign, and if you don't like the service you're on, you can easily switch. So whether you're looking for a basic package such as Sling TV or want to pay more for a deluxe experience from the likes of PlayStation Vue, there should be a streaming TV service to suit you.
However, please note that I'm not advocating doing ALL of these! If you did, you'd wind up spending more than you were paying for cable. That would be dumb. We currently subscribe to Sling TV, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. We are switching over to DIRECTV NOW starting next month because we have one AT&T phone and can use the data from that phone to watch for free.

If you only wanted to watch certain shows, you could double check on Hulu or one of the other Playon supported services (CBS streaming for example), and see if those shows are streamed through their online services. if they are, you should be able to use playon at no extra charge. I know for a fact that CSI shows up in Playon, as we watch that show quite regularly. I’m not sure about the other one.

Similarly, if you have a monthly data cap on your Internet service, purchasing TV shows and downloading them can significantly eat into that cap—you may even need to pay for a higher level of Internet service to handle the downloads each month. A single hour of streaming video can eat up 5 gigabytes of data, making a 250 GB data cap seem fairly small.

Of course, there’s never a bad time to reexamine your cable package and determine if you still need the one you’re on. Perhaps when you signed up, your provider gave you a premium package at a low rate, but that rate has expired and you’re now paying the regular price—do you really need those premium channels? Similarly, as nice as having 200-plus channels at your fingertips can be, many people spend the majority of their TV time watching just a few select stations. See if your provider offers a less expensive package that has the stations you want.
DirecTV Now offers a base DVR for free, with 20 hours of recording per month, and will store recorded content for up to 30 days, after which it will be deleted to make room for new recordings. If that’s not quite enough for you, an upgrade is available for $10 per month that increases your DVR allowances to 100 recording hours and up to 90 days for storage. While these DVR features are better than most, it’s worth noting that DirecTV Now’s True Cloud DVR has a severe limitation on channels that can be paused, fast-forwarded, or rewound compared to other services. On the plus side, though, you’ll be able to watch all your DVR content from any device, even when on mobile devices outside your home Wi-Fi network. Recent updates also now allow HBO and Cinemax programming on the DVR service.
TiVo – The granddaddy of DVRs, a TiVo device is great for streaming programs from Netflix, Blockbuster, and Amazon Video On Demand. It connects to your home's TV antenna so you can watch free network programming, and the HD TiVo units will even pick up your local high-definition channels. The drawback is that on top of the price of the device ($200 and up), you'll need a monthly $12 subscription to access TiVo's best features.
DIRECTV also offers more full-time high-definition (HD) channels than anyone, and it has the ability to record up to 200 hours of HD video content. So whether you’re tuning in to see Tom Brady’s piercing baby-blue eyes or just want to marvel at the realistic zombie makeup on The Walking Dead, you can expect a crystal clear picture for both live TV and recorded shows off your Genie DVR.
I just bought Roku box ($99). I also have a dvd player that has the capability to browse netflix, hulu, etc. I have to say that I am dissappointed in Roku. there are hardly any free channels to stream through. Everything is a paid subscription. Also its not live streaming tv, you have to constatnly go through all the episode to select one, which in itself makes watching tv stressfull. I think most people want to watch whats on tv. they want to come home and just see whats on, and space out. Roku and netflix are cheap but certainly do not match up to cable or dish tv. I am very techincal, so finding channels and configuring the boxes was not at all an issue for me. Most of the channels on Roku are paid. There are some free, but that have garbage on it. The free movies are crap, and are rated 1 or 2 stars. I was not able to find any free shows on roku, and the ones i found were horrible, hence they were on roku. I also found some documentries on roku, but who the hell wants to watch that crap. there is also an hunting channel on roku! common, they could do a lot better then that. This weekend I was over a friend’s house and she had cable. Man I miss cable. Yes its more expensive then Roku and netflix, but its a lot better then them. Channels such as discover (the realy discovery), netgeo, hgtv, tnt, tbs, bravo, movie channel, etc are just not on any of these boxes or netflix. the search capability on netflix really sucks, and they keep on removing movies constantly. I have tried, dish, cable, netflix, hulu plus, roku, but i have to say nothing beats cable tv or dish.
Other important factors include cloud DVR and the interface itself. Yes, most of the services above allow you to record and play back shows, just like a traditional cable or satellite DVR, but they often come with restrictions. Some services have a traditional, cable-box-like menu system, while some are more experimental (read: they have a steep learning curve).
According to Jesse Zwick, RT persuades "legitimate experts and journalists" to appear as guests by allowing them to speak at length on issues ignored by larger news outlets. It frequently interviews progressive and libertarian academics, intellectuals and writers from organisations like The Nation, Reason magazine, Human Events, Center for American Progress[142] and the Cato Institute[45] who are critical of United States foreign and civil liberties policies.[142] RT also features little known commentators, including anarchists, anti-globalists and left-wing activists.[96] Journalist Danny Schechter holds that a primary reason for RT's success in the United States is that RT is "a force for diversity" which gives voice to people "who rarely get heard in current mainstream US media."[40]

FuboTV ($34.99/mo.): Although it is best known for its wide array of international sports networks — it’s particularly ideal for fans of soccer and college athletics — FuboTV also includes a solid package of basic cable outlets and some local network channels. The service offers 30 hours of cloud DVR storage and a “three-day replay” function, giving subscribers three days to watch broadcasts that they forgot to record (with some exceptions because of licensing limitations).

Sports nuts would have to spend more money on another service to get a portion of the channels offered by FuboTV, but there is one glaring omission to its sports listings: ESPN. The service does not currently carry ESPN or ABC channels, and can’t be used to access ESPN+ through the ESPN app, so if those are a staple of your sports coverage consumption, FuboTV isn’t going to satisfy your appetite.
“I’m really disappointed in the slow deterioration of popular film offerings from the Big 3 (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon). I remember when they started up, Netflix had an amazing selection. But now it seems like they never have any of the films I’m looking for. I have Amazon Prime, but any of the movies I really want to see inevitably require that I pay extra to rent them. The number of B and C-grade movies that are on these services is quite remarkable. That’s a lot of chaff to pad their offerings.” ― Susan Houston
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I have the exact same problem as Cara, which just started today. Everything was working perfectly yesterday. All I had to do was plug in my hdmi cable, set my tv to hdmi & I could get video & audio (didn't have to change any settings to get audio). Now today, suddenly, I've got no audio. I didn't make any changes or do anything different b/w last night and today, yet the audio stopped working. I did e/thing Cara did, except her "fix" didn't work for me (ie. changing the default audio to tv in the control panel of my laptop). Even when I "tested" the speakers, the sound came out of the tv, just like it did for Cara. So some setting somewhere got changed w/o my knowledge, I just can't figure out what it is. Ugh. My laptop is a Lenovo ideapad & I have a Vizio smart hdtv if that makes a difference. Can ANYBODY help those of us still having this problem? Please. Thank you

RT International, based in Moscow, presents around-the-clock news bulletins, documentaries, talk shows, debates, sports news, and cultural programmes that it says provide "a Russian viewpoint on major global events".[3] RT operates as a multilingual service with conventional channels in five languages: the original English-language channel was launched in 2005, the Arabic-language channel in 2007, Spanish in 2009, German in 2014 and French in 2017. RT America (since 2010),[6] RT UK (since 2014), and other regional channels also offer some locally based content.
CBS/CBS All Access: The main CBS app includes the latest episodes of the broadcaster's major news programs, including CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes, and Face the Nation. Those programs can be accessed for free on mobile devices and televisions via Chromecast, though other TV devices require a $6-per-month CBS All Access subscription. Available on: Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Xbox, and PlayStation 4
FuboTV ($34.99/mo.): Although it is best known for its wide array of international sports networks — it’s particularly ideal for fans of soccer and college athletics — FuboTV also includes a solid package of basic cable outlets and some local network channels. The service offers 30 hours of cloud DVR storage and a “three-day replay” function, giving subscribers three days to watch broadcasts that they forgot to record (with some exceptions because of licensing limitations).
Netflix.com: Slightly more, but the added convenience of keeping the movies and TV shows as long as you want, and being able to stream a selection of movies and TV shows over the computer, or networked media device. Netflix is getting better all the time, now with great original series like House of Cards. Find all plans and how to maximize your return on this post: How Much Netflix Costs.